Thanks to the many early hearing screening programs worldwide, congenital hearing loss can be detected in infants within the first weeks of life. Children with late-onset or temporary hearing loss due to genetic factors, middle ear effusion (glue ear), cytomegalovirus, ototoxic medications, or injury, for example, can be diagnosed promptly if appropriately suspected by families, school staff, and medical teams.
Without sufficient access to sound, children with hearing loss can fall behind in their speech and language development, incidental learning, and socialization, which has further implications on self-esteem, academic attainment, and future prospects. Hearing aids, when programmed and utilized successfully, can close the disparities that children with hearing loss face alongside their normal hearing peers.
A hearing aid is an electrically powered device that delivers amplified acoustic sound along the auditory pathway, specifically to the inner and outer hair cells of the basilar membrane within the cochlea. At a basic level, it consists of a microphone, amplifier, and speaker. Sound is collected from the environment, amplified according to the wearer's prescription, and delivered into the outer ear via suitable coupling.There are two main sound delivery options for hearing aids, they are:
Air conduction: these are conventional hearing aids that deliver sound via the air-conduction auditory pathway, incorporating the outer, middle, and inner ears. They are available in a behind-the-ear or in-the-ear configuration.
Bone conduction: in cases where the outer and/or middle ear(s) are compromised, sound delivery depends on the bone conduction pathway; through the temporal bone and into the inner ear directly, bypassing the outer and middle ear structures. These devices are often worn on a hard or soft headband. They are not to be confused with bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHA), which are surgically implanted into the mastoid bone of the user, although they utilize the same conduction pathway.
Hearing aids currently on the market are almost entirely digital, allowing healthcare professionals to program a customized sound profile for use according to the individual needs of each patient. They can adapt to different listening environments, such as noisy classrooms; they can wirelessly stream from mobile and tablet devices and record data regarding use time.
If fitted with precision by an experienced healthcare professional, hearing aids can provide hearing-impaired children with valuable access to speech and environmental sounds and allow development on par with hearing peers.
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